It's The SPENDING, Stupid!!

Ticker makes the case very well.

You can fill in the blank for "Who's Stupid" after reading this.

First he quotes the news:

The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 1.1 percent in May, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices advanced 1.1 percent in April and 0.7 percent in March. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand increased 6.5 percent for the 12 months ended in May, the largest 12-month rise since moving up 7.4 percent in November 2022....

Then he launches the artillery:

 

This is not Iran.

It is the monetary expansion from deficit spending which Trump did exactly nothing to curtail and is now presenting severe cost-push pressure into the supply chain across the board.

I pointed this out as a serious problem in January before the first shots were fired and it has only gotten worse since.

On the final demand (closest to the consumer) side removing foods and energy the escalation was 0.8% on the month which, on a 12 month rolling basis is just over 10%.  Again that's excluding food and energy.

What's far worse is unprocessed intermediate which again, less food and energy, is up 2.6% on the month and the 12 month total run rate is 22%!  The monthly increase annualized is 36% and processed goods less foods and energy were up 1.8% on the month which once again annualized comes to 23.9%....

It is true that Trump "did nothing" about the spending.  To be fair, neither did Biden.  It is ALSO true that Congress, led by spineless twits with pretty hair, spends money as though it were tossing confetti during a parade.  

Now comes the announcement that Social Security payments will decrease by 25% or so in about 6 years.  The combination of less money AND more costly EVERYTHING will take care of the "aging Boomers are a pain" problem, alright.  But those Costly Everythings are also going to affect everyone else.

It is the spending.  It always has been the spending.  It always will be the spending. And until we get the Beautiful Hair Twits off their TeeVee vanity shots and back down to earth, it will be a Great Depression-causing problem.

Additional takes on this are available here and here.